Don’t count them out just yet

Robin Padilla

There was a time when veteran stars Tom Cruise in Hollywood and Robin Padilla here at home were labeled has-beens and also-rans. But they’ve bounced back in a big way and proven their cynical detractors wrong, indicating that they’re definitely here to stay.

Cruise made a laughing stock of himself by jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey’s sofa to express undying love for Katie Holmes (and by snittily lecturing Matt Laver on the “Today” show on the latter’s “ignorance” about scientology and psychology).

But Cruise is making headlines again with his coming films, among them a new “Mission Impossible” caper, where he fully intends to prove that he’s still agile and buff enough to do his own stunts.

Even more remarkable is the casting coup that Cruise has pulled off by copping the controversial role of “glam rocker” Stacee Jaxx in the movie version of the hit musical “Rock of Ages,” which is currently being filmed by Adam Shankman (“Hairspray”).

At first, Shankman didn’t know how to react when Cruise volunteered to play Jaxx, who’s described as a “superstar devotee of rock band excess and the biggest rock star in the world.”

In the first place, could Cruise even sing? After seeing the action superstar perform a musical number with his wife at a charity event, Shankman’s fears were assuaged.

What about Cruise’s ability to go radically “off-image” and play a really wild character? The director caught the actor’s crazily comedic characterization of an obnoxious and really fat movie producer in “Tropic Thunder” and felt even more confident that Cruise could pull his utterly unexpected new acting assignment off.

To be sure, Cruise wanted some script changes, including making Jaxx “less of a predatory snake and more of a lost boy who does something wrong but doesn’t know it.” The movie is not as campy in look and tone, either, as the original Broadway version.

The alterations were made “to make it easier for movie audiences to relate to the characters,” and it is hoped that they won’t adversely affect the material’s edgy, raw and rock-raucous look and sound.

Busier than ever

For his part, Padilla is busier than he’s ever been. He started 2011 with his self-produced and directed film in loving tribute to his new bride, Mariel Rodriguez, which got some positive notes for its unexpected exoticism.

At the moment, his new teleserye, “Guns & Roses,” is going strong. And he’s preparing to star in several attention-calling movie projects with some decidedly younger leading ladies. Looks like this Robin is trilling and enjoying a second spring in his life and career.

It helps that, due to his innate athleticism, Robin still looks fit and buff, younger than his 40-plus years, despite being the father of young-adult daughters, etc. So, his love or flirtation scenes with his new leading ladies, who are in their 20s, aren’t huge turn-offs.

Now, if only the freshly reinvigorated actor could get rid of his “OA” acting shticks, porma poses and “sassy” dialogue delivery, his new portrayals would be even more welcome.

Come to think of it, though, perhaps Robin has remained popular because of his idiosyncratic performance style, which his fans have become fond of? If so, an “improved” Robin could be a contradiction—and confoundingly counterproductive.

But, what about a decade from now? Even the “eternally” buff actor would have to contend with the wear and tear of the years by then—so we hope that he’ll have something more solid and durable to fall back on than his “bad boy” trademark.

As the actor was able to prove in “La Visa Loca,” if and when he puts his mind to it, he can do better than his signature mystique and mistakes.